Steve Review: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Jun 14, 2011 by shanyn

Title: Leviathan
Hardcover, 440 pages
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: September 22, 2009
Source: Purchased
Buy: Amazon

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Book Summary:
Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.

Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She’s a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.

With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn’s paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.

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Steve Review:
This book is simply good fun.  Beasties and machines, war tension, hiding royalty, and girls pretending to be boys.  What more do you want from a book?!

The book follows Alek – heir to the Austrian/Hungarian throne, and Deryn – a girl pretending to be a boy to get into the British air service.  I like both of the characters, they are easy to get along with and have very different perspectives.  A chance meeting brings them together and the plot evolves from there.  The story is a pretty original one with an alternate history being told where not only have machines been engineered into weapons but also animals and whole ecosystems have been created to fight.  On one side you have the Clankers who use machines to fight their wars, and on the other you have the Darwinists who have genetically evolved “beasties” into weapons.

Alek is on the run as his parents are assassinated and only has a few of his closest mentors to keep him company.  They are machine experts and were traditionally on the Clanker side.  Deryn joined the air service illegally disguised as a boy on the side of the Darwinists.  Their tales begin independently but eventually intertwine and the adventure truly begins.  Throughout the book are several really nice black and white illustrations depicting the escapades.  It’s all the little pieces of this unique puzzle that fit really well together and make the Leviathan a special read.

Points Scale:
Cover: 4/5 – Nice attention grabbing cover.
Title: 4/5 – Strong title.
Plot: 7/10 – Starts a little slow but all background history does eh?
Characters: 7/10 – Just a touch young for my taste.  That’s what she said.
Writing: 7/10 – I liked dis writing.
Ending: 7/10 – Lead in to a series!

Total: 36/50 – Not an outstanding score, but no real low marks either  I’m a big believer that altogether the book is a special start to a series that I’m looking forward to

Buy: Amazon

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• Steve Review: Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld